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Chair cushions consist of plywood inserts with foam and fabric that comes off easily. You can reupholster most dining room chairs in about an hour. If the fabric on the cushion is showing age, has become damaged or you're simply sick of looking at it, replace the foam and fabric like a professional using simple hand tools. You can do a single chair, or spend the day doing them in a production mode by taking each one a step at a time.

1

Turn the chair upside down. Examine the frame. Look for screws that penetrate up through the frame into the plywood chair seat. Using a drill/driver, remove all the screws, and push the seat from the frame with your hand. There will typically be six or eight screws.

2

Stand the chair upright. Insert a putty knife between the wooden chair frame and the back cushion. Pry gently on the knife to lift the cushion slightly. Pry it up until the glue begins to loosen. Grab the thin plywood cushion with your fingers, and pull up on it gently. As the glue loosens, pull the back cushion free of the chair frame.

3

Place both cushions face down. Use a staple puller to remove the staples around the perimeter of the fabric. Pull the fabric off the foam.

4

Slide a putty knife under the foam to cut loose the glue. Pull the foam off the plywood. If some if it sticks to the plywood, scrape it off with the putty knife.

5

Spray the cushions with aerosol contact adhesive. Place dense fabric foam on the cushions, and press it down to bond it to the plywood. The foam should be at least one inch bigger than the plywood on all four sides. Trim the edges of the foam off flush to the plywood using a jigsaw.

6

Place the cushions foam side down on a piece of upholstery fabric that is at least four inches bigger than the foamed cushion on all four sides. Place a heavy object on the back of the plywood to compress the foam.

7

Pull the fabric up tight on one corner. Fold it over, and use an upholstery staple gun to shoot a staple one inch from the edge of the plywood to secure it. Move to the opposite corner diagonally. Fold, staple and shoot another staple. Move to the other corners and repeat. Pull the fabric up on the sides. Fold, staple and shoot staples in this manner, moving from side to side, end to end until you have staples two inches apart around the perimeter of fabric.

8

Check the cushion. If you see any pleats, folds or wrinkles, pull them out with your fingers, and shoot staples to secure the fabric tight. Finish by shooting the staples side-by-side around the fabric, maintaining the one-inch perimeter.

9

Place the seat cushion back into the chair bottom. Screw it back in using the same screws that you took out.

10

Apply beads of hot-melt glue to the plywood back cushion. Place the beads of glue two inches apart down the length of the back. Press the cushion into the chair back with your fingers. Hold the cushion tight for 30 seconds to bond the cushion to the frame.

Things You Will Need

Putty knife

Drill/driver

Staple puller

Aerosol contact adhesive

Dense upholstery foam

Jigsaw

Upholstery fabric

Upholstery staple gun

Upholstery staples, 1/4-inch leg, 3/8-inch crown

Hot-melt glue

Hot-melt glue gun

Tip

Upholstery fabric is classified by color. Blue is the softest, purple is medium, and black is the stiffest. Choose the one you like best.

Warning

Use caution when handling upholstery staple guns. They are capable of shooting multiple staples in a few seconds.

About the Author

Specializing in hardwood furniture, trim carpentry, cabinets, home improvement and architectural millwork, Wade Shaddy has worked in homebuilding since 1972. Shaddy has also worked as a newspaper reporter and writer, and as a contributing writer for Bicycling Magazine. Shaddy began publishing in various magazines in 1992, and published a novel, “Dark Canyon,” in 2008.